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Yamaha MotoGP riders, teams and YZR-M1

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2013/05/19

Lorenzo and Rossi Endure a Race of Attrition in Le Mans

Yamaha Factory Racing riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi endured a nightmare race today in the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France. Having enjoyed a dry track for both practice and qualifying the riders had to contend with full wet conditions to start today's race.

Lorenzo started from second on the grid and was able to hold behind race leader Andrea Dovizioso initially until passed by Dani Pedrosa with 26 laps to go. As the laps wound down the reigning World Champion gradually dropped position, fighting a wet but slowly drying track with a less than optimum set up. Lorenzo eventually crossed the line in seventh place to claim nine Championship points that keep him in third position in the overall standings.

Rossi made a strong start from eighth on the grid and had moved up to fourth position by the second lap after some swift passes. The Italian was able to find a good race pace and was able to hold on in fourth with the potential to fight for the podium until a strange low side crash with 11 laps remaining of the race. Ross remounted and re-joined, nursing his damaged M1 home in 12th position to take four Championship points and sit in fifth in the overall standings.

Crutchlow claims heroic career best result in Le Mans

Cal Crutchlow produced the ride of his MotoGP career in Le Mans today to claim a heroic podium in the home race of the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team.

Just 24 hours after a heavy practice crash left him with a fracture in his right leg, the British rider showed amazing skill, concentration and courage to finish second in a 28-lap race run in the toughest conditions imaginable.

Crutchlow was the lead Yamaha rider home at the end of a race that started on a perilously slippery and wet surface after heavy rain fell in the build-up. Visibility and calculating grip levels were major early challenges but Crutchlow quickly gained his confidence and he sliced through the field with some outstanding overtakes.

The 27-year-old stormed through from seventh to second with measured moves on reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo, Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso, an impressive feat considering how tough it was to master constantly changing conditions and grip levels on a rapidly drying track.

Crutchlow’s career best MotoGP result and first rostrum of 2013 was secured on lap 24 when he attacked former Tech 3 teammate Dovizioso and today’s outstanding performance moved the former World Supersport Champion into fourth place in the World Championship standings with four of 18 rounds completed.

A career best MotoGP result to date was also being hailed on the other side of the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team garage after Bradley Smith raced his YZR-M1 to a determined ninth position.

The slippery track surface had an immediate impact on Smith’s race. He suffered a big rear tyre slide while accelerating off the line and it was only the lightning reflexes of the 22-year-old that saved him from a fall.

He dropped right to the back of the field but despite only having very limited experience of the YZR-M1 in wet conditions, Smith’s recent attempts to smoothen his riding style proved vital this afternoon.

Smith quickly established a fast rhythm and as his confidence grew he was able to deliver a fantastic fight back into the top 10. His rousing recovery to ninth moves him to the brink of the top 10 in the World Championship classification on 17 points.

Updated Information

What is MotoGP, Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix?

The MotoGP is the pinnacle class of world championship road racing that developed primarily in Europe after FIM (Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme) consolidated the regulations for motorcycle competition for the first time in 1949. In the past, the pinnacle class was the 500cc class of the Road Race World Championships, but in 2002 the regulation was changed to create the MotoGP class in which 2-stroke machines of up to 500cc and 4-stroke machines of up to 990cc competed together.

Since 2004, competition has been limited to 4-stroke machines only, with the displacement regulation reduced to under 800cc in 2007, and then raised to 1000cc from the 2012 season. There have also been measures to make it easier for more teams to compete with the Claiming Rule Teams (CRT) system where the rules are relaxed and enable the use of production-based engines, a greater fuel allowance and a greater engine allocation for the season.

For the 2013 season there has been a change in the qualifying format. It will use the overall rider order after the three free practice sessions and have the ten fastest riders seeded through to Qualifying Practice 2 (QP2) and those from 11th position and down to Qualifying Practice 1 (QP1). QP1 will be run first and its two top finishers will then join the ten riders seeded for QP2 to compete for pole to 12th position on the grid. The grid positions from 13 down will be decided based on the results of QP1.

Yamaha’s first World GP race was the French GP that took place on May 21, 1961. In the half century since then, Yamaha has won many great victories and series titles. Particularly in the pinnacle GP500 and subsequent MotoGP classes, six Yamaha riders have won the Rider Championship a total of 16 times and the factory has won the Constructor Championship title 13 times.

The Riders

Jorge Lorenzo

YAMAHA FACTORY RACING

Valentino Rossi

YAMAHA FACTORY RACING

Cal Crutchlow

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Bradley Smith

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE

The Teams

For the 2013 season, four Yamaha riders will be competing on two teams. The YAMAHA FACTORY RACING team will field reigning MotoGP Champion Jorge Lorenzo, who took his second title last season, and Valentino Rossi, who returns to Yamaha after parting ways after the 2010 season. Riding for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 satellite team will be Cal Crutchlow, who finished last season ranked 7th with two 3rd-place podium finishes, and up and coming young rider Bradley Smith, who competed in Moto2 until last year. Together with the YAMAHA FACTORY RACING riders, they will be competing to win Yamaha another MotoGP Triple Crown.

The Machine

YZR-M1

This is the factory machine that has been developed specifically for MotoGP competition since 2002. The “M” in its name stands for the "Mission" of feeding back the technologies gained in race development to Yamaha's production models and the other Mission to win the MotoGP championship. The YZR-M1 has won a total of six championship titles thus far, four by Rossi and two by Lorenzo, and hopes are high this season for one more to be added to the record.